Voices and the sound of drums : an Irish autobiography [first edition]

Shea, Patrick. Voices and the sound of drums - An Irish autobiography. Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1981. 23cm. 208 pages. Softcover. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Patrick Shea CB, OBE, FRSA (27 April 1908 - 1986) was a Northern Irish civil servant and the first Roman Catholic since A. N. Bonaparte-Wyse in the 1920s to achieve the rank of Permanent Secretary of a Government Department in Northern Ireland. Shea was born in Delvin, County Westmeath, where his father, a native Irish speaker from West Kerry, was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. His father had various postings until the RIC was disbanded in 1922 upon the creation of the Irish Free State via the Anglo-Irish Treaty/Partition of Ireland. Shea's father joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary, attaining the rank of Head Constable and later Clerk of Petty Sessions in Newry, County Down, where the family later lived. Patrick Shea attended the Abbey CBS in Newry. Upon leaving, he joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service in June 1926. His postings included: Ministry of Labour, Clerical Officer 1926-1935 Belfast, Outdoor Officer Enniskillen 1935-1938, Senior Clerk, Headquarters 1938-1939 Ministry of Finance, Assistant Principal 1939-1941, Deputy Principal 1941. His initial appointment to this office was blocked because he was a Roman Catholic by the Minister of Labour John F. Gordon who was later overruled by John M. Andrews the Minister of Finance. Secretary Civil Service Committee for Northern Ireland 1941 Ministry of Education, Principal December 1947 - 1959, Establishment Officer and Accountant Ministry of Finance, Public Buildings and Works, 1959-1963, Assistant Secretary 1963-1969 Ministry of Education, Permanent Secretary, December 1969-1973 After retirement he chaired Enterprise Ulster from 1973-1979. Shea commented on his own career by recalling that it was my experience that so..